I wrote seven poems last night and ten minutes of new comedy material in a completely different style then I’m used to…
I haven’t written a poem since high school- I’ll admit it had a completely different feel to the stuff I used to write, and I’m quite proud of it… though I re-read them all this morning and realised to anybody other than myself they sound completely stupid.
I’m just happy I’ve started writing again…
1. My friends who are not afraid to do interesting things that may involve a giggle… thanks Fiona. x
2. Ice-cream sundaes on a Sunday whilst watching the boats at the Docklands.
3. Hope. It’s always there, even when I try to reject it.
4. A cold Scotch & Dry on a Sunday night. (Just the one students reading, just the one!)
5. Showers. Whether it be emotional or physical, showers help wash all the bad stuff away.
I have ignored this goal for some time.
Not because I don’t intend to achieve it, but because I have been so busy I haven’t had time to continue addressing it. Some excuse, you say. Well, for those of you who have never been ‘too busy for anything’, clearly you’ve never lead a hectic lifestyle.
After the school production has finished in 3 weeks, I will pick this goal up again, as I’ll have time to go to the gym without being so tired I can’t use the weights properly, and I’ll have time to shop properly again for food instead of sugar…
I have actually lost weight since I’ve been stressed and dropped my program, but all of my muscle has turned back into fat as well and I feel revolting.
So. For those interested, I thought I would write to let you know this goal WILL be achieved by the end of the year.
So help me…
1. On bad days I can tell myself I’ll snap out of it because I have to, because I want to, because I have so much around me that is better than one crap day.
2. That my heart has never been completely broken by a boy, just cracked.
3. For music, which soothes me, enthuses me, and saves me.
4. For my students not hating me when I’m a grumpy bitch. Even though I do.
5. I still have Sarah after 11 years. And I will miss her more than I thought I would.
Not only did I do it, but I didn’t even lose money, I made money!
I performed 19 shows over three and a half weeks to over 350 patrons, which might not seem like a lot, but it was bloody hard work pulling them in!
With over 300 shows at the festival, I found out how hard it is to sell yourself to people, if someone questioned me with “Why should I pay to see you, are you worth it?” it was really hard not to say, “not really, I wouldn’t pay to watch me for an hour…”.
I’ve proven to myself that I can do this, and that if I try hard enough, I can do it well.
I received great reviews with great constructive criticisms that I’ve taken on board and hope to improve for next year… I’m already thinking about next year!
See The Age review here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts-reviews/halley-metcalfe-shout-hallelujah/2008/04/07/1207420284263.html
Best four weeks ever!
I am grateful that the University I graduated from over a year ago, has left my email address, internet log-in and borrowing facilities completely open and activated… this means well over 10,000 people a year are left with all of these privilages long after they’ve moved on… Time to start a’ borrowin’.
I am grateful I have my grandmothers house as a haven, at least until February. I am grateful she has always made the effort to make me welcome, even when I’m a grumpy old bitch. I am grateful I have some of her qualities, though I wish I was more honourable and forgiving as she is.
I am eternally grateful that my mother trusted me enough to confide in me on New Years Eve, and I hope that any advice I gave her (fancy that… who was I to think I could give my mother advice?) was insightful, rather than instructive.
I am grateful for my friend Simone, who, though she is having the hardest time of her life, can still find time to not only spend with me, but for me to benefit from her generosity in more ways than one as well.
I am grateful that, although others find it funny and concerning, making my lists this week for my classes has helped calm me about teaching them topics I know nothing of myself.
I am grateful for my anal-retentive-obsessive-compulsive-disorder.
I am going! I promise!
It is my mothers 50th birthday next month, and I’m booking both of us in for a Serenity Package, which includes a few bits and pieces and goes for 2 hours…
HUZZAH~! Finally something to cross off the list!
I am locking myself in a University library tomorrow for 6 hours to write at least a detailed outline and 10 minutes of material for my 50 minute show…
I have acquired a new ‘director’ as mine has fallen pregnant with twins and by the time we start workshopping at the end of the month, she’ll have enough on her plate without having a diva-drama-queen begging for her attention.
My new director is the lovely Louis-Louis who is going to workshop with me once a week after school and help me actually get this thing going.
I am increasingly nervous and anxious and unsure about this show.
This is the make-it or break-it for me with comedy.
I’m about done!!!
I haven’t been on here in well over a month. It is not that I have not been fulfilling my goals and therefore felt embarrassed to write, I’ve just been uninterested in expressing myself at all!
However, it is all going well. I had my first weigh-in at Curves a month ago and had lost just over 5 pounds and over 2% bodyfat. I was very happy with that.
Since then Christmas and New Years have come and gone… so I’ve no doubt when I have my weigh-in next week I will have gained weight. But that’s ok with me, because I know it’s a long process and I know I will work it back off.
My mother has sinced joined Curves, it’s great having someone else to go with, someone else to roll my eyes at when the lovely gym ladies get far too enthusiastic and I just want to be left alone rather than pushed.
I’m hoping we can do this together.
I am utterly exhausted as I write this before bed, and I am, firstly, grateful to have such a great bed to fall into.
I know I’ve been grateful for this previously… but Im bloody grateful for it again… and again… and again.
I am grateful that in 24 hours I have motivated to cram the following into my day:
Work- which consisted of teaching my classes, marking 23 exams, shopping in one of my frees, catching up with friends and students.
Dentist- Finally getting it over with.
Book Shopping- Finding 7 great titles that will help me with my Christmas list and my comedy festival show.
The Gym- A quick 30minutes at Curves left me feeling proud of myself.
A 1 hour walk with my best friend and her mother.
Marking any remaining work from 6 of my classes.
Watching the first Christmas film of the season on tv with mum and dad.
Writing this list.
Showering.
I am grateful that tomorrow I can take it easy and slack off a bit because I did so much today.
Having good teeth and being able to afford the luxury of maintaining them.
My slippers, which gave my feet sweet relief after wearing heels all day!!!
Early January I am making a booking for myself, my mother, my sister and my aunt to go to a day spa and have a 75minute massage and a facial.
Huzzah!
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the death of Faye and Penny Cooper, so my list today reflects how grateful I am that I, and my friends and family, are alive.
I am grateful for our family soiree yesterday in the park at Marysville, it gave me another chance to enjoy my family.
I am grateful that I have my sister, even if we don’t get along well most of the time- she is a wonderful mother and an amazingly independant person.
I am so happy that I have such a great relationship with my nephew.
I am grateful to have an aunty and an uncle that love me so much and help me with anything I need.
I am grateful to be alive to tell them all of this.
This website is great.
Since adding a few things I’ve always wanted to do, I’ve actually started doing them.
Tomorrow I’m having my first singing lesson.
I think it will be awful, because I know very well I sound like a screeching cat when I sing, but, even if I never get any better, at least I’ve had a go.
If all else fails, I’ll just hum.
My diet has not changed, but I already know I don’t eat particularly badly… just too much!
I’ve stopped going back for seconds.
I also did find it slightly difficult to drag myself to the gym, but have managed to go three times, and I’ll go tomorrow morning… even though it’s Saturday.
I’m quite sure I’m not really losing weight, but I do feel better, and not as guilty when I have that beer after work, or that biscuit with my cup of tea.
1) I am so grateful for Sunscreen! In all it’s greasy, icky-feeling glory!!!
2) My car- which gets me from A to B in relative comfort, with good music, it is a sanctuary.
3) Students who are honest with me about everything, even if it could hurt my feelings.
4) My sister, for cooking dinner.
5) Having the opportunity to feel so involved in my community, for once.
You betcha!
1) For technology, which makes writing reports a little easier, though more confusing.
2) Books- and how excited I still am when I open them, and how VERY excited I was to see all of my year 7 English class using the library to research… it isn’t seen enough. Stupid Google.
3) For being optimistic: It took a long time to get here, but I feel sad for people who immediately see the negative side of things now.
4) For inspirational people who push others to improve themselves through influence.
5) Dinner.
Today I am grateful for:
1) Having the opportunity to work side by side somebody I have respected and looked up to for a third of my life.
2) Being involved in a profession that allows me to watch teenagers get inspired and inspire each other, every day.
3) Clean water to drink, that comes easily out of a conveniently close tap.
4) Bananas.
5) Being fortunate to earn a wage that allows me little luxuries.
It’s in full swing!
I made the decision on Saturday that I was going to do a show at next years MICF.
Why not? I said to myself. Why not take the risk? If you bomb, you bomb, what’s a couple of thousand dollars you’ve worked half a year for? It’s life and at least you’ll enjoy it and never regret it if you give it a crack!
Since then I’ve managed to contact venues (and have possibly found a winner!), found a ‘director’ and a photographer, have contacted people regarding publicity and flyers and have really begun to think seriously about my show ideas.
Where to go from here is anyones guess!
Today I am grateful for:
1. So many men who fought and died to preserve the freedom and opportunity in Australia.
2. Living in a town where I can walk from one end to the other in 15 minutes and still experience: a war memorial, a park, a friends house, ice-cream and fresh air.
3. My body and all that it does for me, all that it represents and it’s shape.
4. The glass of wine I had after working all afternoon.
5. My king-single bed, and the fact that my parents bought it for me at the age of 16 so I could really stretch my legs.
Well, although I am already a member of a great gym that I never use, I have now joined another one.
With only two months left of my membership at Fernwood I was unsure as to whether I wanted to join again or not.
It is a fabulous gym, but I really don’t use the facilities properly, so $20 a week is a bit of a waste for me.
I have now joined Curves at a monthly rate of $49 that has a program I think will work better for me for the following reasons:
1) Half hour workouts- I hate that my workout at Fernwood is about 1 1/2 hours, I feel guilty spending that much time in a gym when I should be preparing lessons or doing more important work than improving my thighs.
2) It is cheaper and I’m paying for one facility- exercise and motivation.
3) It is a circular circuit- which means other ladies are involved- which means I’d feel embarrassed if I left before I’d completed my workout. At Fernwood, I could do 10 minutes of a workout and nobody would know!
4) It is closer to home, so it is easier to ‘swing by’ after work.
Oh- and I was weighed at the gym… lets make it 15 pounds… I underestimated how much weight I’d gained!
